The Department of Corrections (DoC) refuted an allegation yesterday that it has allowed an influential prisoner and certain prison officials to profit from offering inmates privileges beyond prison rules.
The DoC said the allegation made by Senator Sitthikorn Thongyos during a meeting of the Senate on Tuesday was untrue and misleading.
However, the DoC said it would still conduct an investigation into the alleged misconduct.
Mr Sitthikorn accused the DoC of being immoral under Justice Minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong's leadership.
To support his allegation, he cited information he claimed to have received from an unidentified person about the influential prisoner he dubbed "Somdet" (majesty).
The senator said Somdet was also allowed to use a mobile phone in prison, adding that this prisoner works for several prison officials.
"When a prisoner has been in prison for a while, someone will approach the prisoner to take him to meet Somdet, who has been in prison for a long time. It is said that this Somdet is a handyman for corrupt officials," Mr Sitthikorn said.
Usually, the prison allowed relatives to deposit money for prisoners not exceeding 9,000 baht each, but if they got approval from Somdet, they could deposit more money that would be transferred to a mule bank account used by those corrupt prison authorities, he said.
After the money was received, these inmates were given milk packs and instant coffee packets for use in lieu of cash, he said, adding a milk carton was equivalent to 10 baht and one coffee packet 100 baht.
The senator said these milk boxes and coffee packets were used to buy goods at the grocery store inside the prison and for gambling, which was also organised by the same influential prisoner.
According to Mr Sitthikorn, prisoners who wanted to pay a bribe to prison officials for what they wanted, such as the privilege to remain in a certain prison they liked or to fake an illness and win approval for treatment outside of prison, could also request that the money be transferred to these same mule accounts.
The senator estimated the money circulating in the mule account was between 10 and 20 million baht.
The DoC denied the existence of a Somdet.
